Skating on the Rideau CanalIndustry

Some land is used for industrial purposes along the Ottawa River, and many of industries rely on the river’s water for their operations. Atomic Energy Canada Limited (AECL) has its major research facility, Chalk River Laboratories, on the Ontario shore of the river. A Canadian forces base lies between AECL and Petawawa. Bryson and Portage-du-Fort have pulp and paper mills. The town of Braeside, with its Tembec mill, is a major water user. Industries between Chaudiere Falls and Chats Falls include Goldie Mohr Construction and M.G. MacDonald. Four pulp and paper mills, including J. MacLaren in Thurso and Masson, Canadian International Paper in Gatineau, and E.B. Eddy Paper in Hull, currently operate along the north shoreline between Carillon and Chaudiere Falls. Others are no longer in operation: Canadian International Paper shut down its Hawkesbury mill in 1982, Eddy discontinued its pulping operations in 1972, and log drives ceased in the Ottawa River in 1990.

Agriculture

The underlying geological material along the Ottawa River determines how suitable the valley’s land is for agriculture. Nutrient-rich silt and clay soils along the lower stretches of the Ottawa River Valley are highly productive as long as surface drainage is adequate. Networks of long drainage ditches are therefore common in these areas. Till that has a fine-grained matrix is also nutrient-rich, and retains moisture well. Farms on till often have rock fences or piles built from boulders pulled from the fields.

In contrast, sandy soils may be low in nutrients and retain moisture poorly, making them poor agricultural soils. For example, in the Bourget-Plantagenet area, abandoned farms on the dry sand plain of the early Ottawa River have been turned into pine plantations, and are now a public recreation forest.

Forestry

In the Ottawa River Valley, exploitation of the river valley’s forests has played an important role in shaping the development of the valley’s economic, social, and cultural character. The region’s forests continue to support pulp and paper as well as newsprint production plants in Ottawa River communities such as Masson, Buckingham, Thurso, Hull, and Temiskaming (Rivers, Inc.: “Ottawa River”).

In the upper stretches of the river, forestry represents a major economic activity. For example, the Abitibi-Témiscamingue and Nord-du-Quebec regions contribute 8.9% of Quebec’s total pulp, paper, and paperboard production (Rivers, Inc.: “Ottawa River”). In Abitibi-Témiscamingue, between 60% and 70% of the tree cover is comprised of coniferous trees. In the MRC of Abitibi, the main tree species are Balsam Fir (5%), Spruce (39%), Jack-Pine (18%), Birch (7%), and Trembling Aspen (30%). Cedar and Hemlock are also exploited.

The Outaouais region, including plants in Hull, Masson and Thurso, contributes 12.5% of the total Quebec pulp, paper and paperboard production.

Trees grown in the Outaouais region include Maple, Birch, Beech, and Poplar. In the north, there is a higher proportion of coniferous trees. In Pontiac, for example, 40% of the harvested forest is mixed, and another 20% is coniferous. Species harvested further north include Fir, Spruce, Cedar and Hemlock.

On the Ontario side, in Lanark County, south of the Ottawa Valley Forest and the Ottawa River, the Mazinaw-Lanark Forest contains four primary wood industries. While the economy here has diversified considerably in recent years, the forest industry remains very active, particularly in its northern portion. Approximately 90% of lumber production in Lanark County is in the high-value sector, particularly maple.

Mineral Resource Extraction

The Canadian Shield offers rich deposits of minerals, including iron, nickel, silver, gold, copper, and zinc. The discovery of the Larder-Cadillac Lake Fault at the beginning of the last century spurred the development of several communities along it, including Cadillac on the Ottawa River and also Rouyn-Noranda, Evain, Arntfield, and McWatters.

There are at least 276 mineral extraction sites in the general region of the Upper Ottawa Valley, with 65 mines (only four of which are active) in the Rouyn-Noranda MRC and 211 (mainly sand quarries) in the Abitibi MRC. There are four mines active in the Rouyn-Noranda MRC: Bouchard-Hébèrt, Francoeur, Gallan, and Mouska. In the MRC of Vallée D’Or, there are four: Sigma, Croinor, Beaufor, and Louvicourt. All but the last of these are gold mines.

The major mineral resources of the Ottawa-Gatineau region are crushed stone, sand and gravel. As an aggregate, these are used by the construction industry to make concrete and build roads. Finely crushed aggregate is also used in plastics, glass, paint, wallboard, and roofing tiles.

Peat Moss Extraction

Peat moss, an important resource for the horticultural industry, is extracted at several sites in the Ottawa-Gatineau region, including Alfred Bog. Peat is plant material that slowly accumulates and decomposes in bogs. Because of the important role that wetlands play in the survival of wildlife and in the purification of water, peat mining is a controversial resource-extraction practice.

Source: The Ottawa River Background Study by the Ottawa River Heritage Designation Committee.